A procedure for determining the viscoelastic properties of apple flesh has been proposed based on compression tests and FEM optimization. Short-term simple compression tests and long-term relaxation tests were performed with cylindrical specimens of apple flesh to measure mechanical properties, and the viscoelastic behavior was predicted using FEM optimization models. Through short-term optimization, the elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio were determined by comparing two kernel functions based on 1) shear only and 2) shear and bulk terms. Long-term stress-relaxation behavior of the specimen was reasonably predicted by two FEM optimization steps within 3.8 % error. The FEM optimization algorithms developed in this research might be applied to determine the viscoelastic properties of bio-materials and also to predict mechanical behavior of these materials under various loading conditions.

Physical damages on fruits may be caused by shock and vibration inputs that transmitted from the transporting vehicle through the packaging and cushioning materials to the fruit. In this study, both half sine shock test and trapezoidal shock test were performed by MIL-STD-810F specification in order to investigate and represent the shock response properties such as peak acceleration and shock amplification factors of the pear according to packaging and cushioning materials for optimal packaging design during transportation. Shock excitation data that had been measured on the vehicle operating on the real road were used. Shock response properties measured by half sine shock test were smaller than those measured by trapezoidal shock test. Results represent that corrugation shapes and thickness can significantly affect the cushioning performance than the paper configurations of cushioning pad and showed that fruits may be damaged seriously while transported on the unpaved road without the properly cushioned packaging practices.

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